What is Freedom?
by EnchantedTales
Summary: Jennifer's life is great. Good grades, good friends. But when she mysteriously falls into One Piece world how will she survive? She soon realizes the skills that she worked so hard to develop is practically useless in this world. Can she survive or will the mighty world of One Piece be her grave?
1. Flaming Blue Chickens?

**A/N: Hi everybody! This is my first fanfic so please bare with me. An idea just popped into my head and I wanted to create a character that people might be able to relate to. So yea this is just the typical OC falls into One Piece world. If you like it or have any suggestions please review. And last but not least. I do not own One Piece I never have and I never will. **

Chapter 1: Flaming blue chickens?

My face lit up with a smile as I threw another snowball across the yard. It was starting to warm up outside and the snow was melting. What better time to have a snowball fight than now? I pack up another snowball and pop up from behind my 5 foot snow fort wall and hurl the ball at my little brother, dodging an incoming snowball aimed at my face. Too late. My little brother pelts me right in face with another snowball. I fall over, laughter ringing my ears before I too start to laugh. My name's Jennifer, I'm a seventeen year old, average girl. Or as average as it gets I think. My little brother, Kevin, is thirteen. Ha! Another shot that landed on its target. Jennifer 8 – Kevin 3. I was playing Pirate with my little brother. No really, just because I'm seventeen doesn't mean I don't still do things like this.

"Whitebeard Pirates Forever!" I yelled as I launch another snowball at Kevin. Yeah that's right. I'm an Otaku. I duck behind my fort as it gets attacked by snowballs. "NOOOO! Moby! You stupid Marine, you'll pay for hurting my ship *cough cough, fort*!" More snowballs bombard my little brother's fort. I watch as he is hit by about a dozen as he tries to recover from my relentless attack.

"Damn pirate! Feel my absolute justice!" Snow is flying everywhere, but I was protected by my fort which I had named the Moby Dick because I was pretending to be a Whitebeard Pirate. Of course, it's just a game nothing too serious so I prepare to go back inside after a bit, I'm getting cold. That snowball to the face didn't help.

"Pirates are just scum of the sea!" I heard him yell. Oh No! I take it all back. This is no longer a game with no meaning. This is a fight that I can't back down from. Like I would ever lose to marines. A long and exhausting battle pursues the meaningless insults about both teams. Screw cold, my pride has taken over my mind. I couldn't tell you how long we continued to play , pelting each other with freezing cold balls of snow but it seemed too short of a time when we heard my Mom's car pull into the garage. The reaction was instant. I moved so fast I must have beat some sort of world record. From the time that it took us to get out of the backyard, into the house and up the stairs into our rooms must have been some sort of record.

I slammed the door to my room and threw off my jacket and gloves. I managed to change into a pair of dry sweats and a T-shirt by the time I heard my mom open the door. Dang, either I was a clothes-changing ninja or my mom just walks really slowly. I dash down the stairs and greet my mom. Yup I was definitely a clothes-changing ninja.

"Hey mom, how was your day?" I tried really hard to be casual even though I was having a hard time catching my breath. I am really out of shape.

"Oh it was just the usual, what about you?" My mom was giving me a meticulous look as if she can see into my soul. I was sweating bullets. Maybe she actually can see into my soul. Man, that would suck. Well no backing out now.

"Well I practiced piano (lol no I didn't) and I'm doing my homework right now (hehe, no I'm not)." I've kinda gotten good at this whole fake important stuff and actually do dumb stuff so I was pretty much prepared for any response she had.

"Good, did Kevin practice piano already?" Well in reality, no. My response, yes. That's when Kevin came strolling down the stairs like nothing had been happening. Good he's gotten better at his casual act. That's just how we work. One moment we're fighting like world war 3 and another we get along like best friends. Actually we never act like best friends but we occasionally team up on my parents if it's to both our convenience. And to hide our deep dark secrets…. Ehh not really that dark or deep but still. And usually the best friend basis only lasts about a minute or two before I find a reason to argue with him. That's a lie I'm always arguing with him and at best I can tolerate him but never see him as a best friend. It's all a big trust issue. Anyways, I find the perfect opening so I ditch to go do my "homework". No way am I staying when I can be free.

* * *

I woke up to sunlight streaming though my window. Uggggghhhhh…..Monday morning. I drag myself out of bed and smash through my brother's door. Not literally but I guess it would be pretty cool if I could just smash through a door. Anyways I give him the usual wake up call. A pillow to the face. I remember the first time I did that. He was angry at me for days. I don't think he minds now though, because even if he did mind I would still do it anyways. I disappear into the bathroom and get ready for school….ewww school. That's when I remember all the homework that I didn't do yesterday. When I tell my mom I'm doing homework it means that I'm watching anime. Even if I do have homework to do. Whatever I'll just fake them, like I usually do.

I quickly eat breakfast and throw on my jacket. I shove my lunch into my backpack and reach for my badminton racket. I have to walk to school because my parents leave early. Lucky Kevin gets to take a school bus. I don't really mind it though. I hate being kept inside. Well unless I'm watching anime, then it doesn't matter.

Kevin walks down the stairs and that's my cue that I can leave. I've left before he's come down once and he ended missing the bus. As I step outside the cold air nips at my exposed skin. I start my 20 minute trek to the school, wrapping my scarf a little bit closer to my face. Snow burdened my foot steps and I soon was dragging my feet through wet, slushy snow. I can feel the wet, cold feeling seeping into my shoes so I quicken my pace.

By the time I got to the school my socks were starting to feel damp. I don't really mind that much though, I just switch my shoes with my running shoes that I use for gym. Settling into the library, I take out my binder and begin to finish my homework in a very lazy, half-ass style. The end results were answers that just looked like I was ranting about weird topics and doodles of pirate flags all over the page. The most distinguishable flags were Whitebeard's, and Luffy's. I'm greeted by a bunch of friends and we leave to our first class together.

To be honest, I actually have a lot of friends. Life at school is pretty good. Good grades, lots of friends; schoolwork even becomes fun sometimes. Well that's usually when we have paper airplane wars to share our answers. The hours tick by painfully slow before I find myself at the end of the school day, preparing to go home. I guess it wasn't that long considering that I slept through all of my classes.

* * *

My locker door slams as I kick it close and snap the lock on. It took me nearly 4 days to be able to open that lock on my first day of freshman year. The one that spins clockwise and counter clockwise. It messed with my head too much; all the weird directions. I heft up my binder under my arm and walk towards the stairs. I don't usually pay very much attention to my surroundings, a very big mistake on my behalf, so I ended up walking right into a door. As usual, laughter follows my clumsy mistakes like my shadow follows me. By some miracle, I make it home after badminton practice without tripping over my own two feet. I know I make it sound like such a hard task but I really am clumsy. I tend to trip over my own feet and the usual stuff. But I do have some strong points. I like to believe that I'm good at badminton. I crash into my bed, quite literally. A nap afterschool sounds good to me. My parents don't get home until late anyways. Nobody needs to know.

I fell asleep, dreaming of devil fruits and pirates. All too soon, I shoot straight up the second I hear the front door open. I thank whatever mighty being that's out there controlling my fate for my keen hearing. I stumble around a bit trying to orient myself after getting up too quickly. I throw open my books and make it look like I'm studying as my dad walks into my room. I stared back at my dad's deep brown, unflinching eyes. If I could explain his look I would say it's like Mihawk's stare but not intimidating, just there. It's kind of like he can see into my soul but without meaning to. I shift awkwardly in my chair and turn back to my work. My dad, convinced, leaves my room.

I sigh and slump down in my chair. I hate having to hide everything. I grab my backpack and dump out the contents. I was going to go out on a "walk". I throw in a change of clothes into my bag and grab my coat. Throwing my calculus textbook into my bag I walk down the stairs. Since the weather was starting to warm up most of the snow is melting away leaving behind large puddles of water. I figured that I could go out for a bit and get away from confinement.

"DAD! I'm going out for a bit!" I yell up the stairs. I slip on my shoes and shoulder my bag after I hear a muffled "ok". I close the door behind me and drop my house key into my pocket as I begin to walk towards the park. Feeling quite frustrated at the day's amount of homework I decide to walk off my anger. After a while I find that I ended up far away from home in a different park. I knew where I was though. I'm not lost. The park was deserted; all the children had gone home after the sun started to set. The sky was a perfect blend of reds, oranges, and yellows when I looked up. The clouds drifted along in the sky and at that moment everything was peaceful. I settle into a swing, backpack and all, before I rock back and forth for what seemed like ages, just lost in my thoughts.

I hear my phone give a little ring so I pull it out of my pocket.

New email.

The more I read the email, the higher I swung. I scowl a bit. I wrap my arms around the swing ropes as I tap away furiously on my phone. Clicking my phone off I shove it back into my pocket, swinging my swing up as high as I could.

_ Maybe I should take my backpack off and the less amount of weight will let me fly little higher_. Nah, it was time for me to go home anyways I had homework to do. I told myself that I was going to do it at the park but I was away longer than I expected. The sky was almost completely dark now. I know that my mom was going to be outrageous when I got home. Always going on about how I don't spend enough time studying or something. I position my bag comfortably and prepare to jump off the swing midair. I love the rush of wind that I feel even if it's only for a second.

_Launch off in 3…2…1._ I count down in my head. I think it makes everything sound more dramatic and exciting.

I soar through the air and expect to find solid ground to land on but instead it seems like gravity didn't like me. I never land. I even expected to stumble my landing a little bit and maybe trip over myself like a fool. Instead, a sense of dizziness washes over me and everything in my vision converges into blobs of color. The warm colors from the sky fade into a blinding light and the grass disappears, all the vibrant green lost from sight. Eventually I lose all sight and I fall through darkness. I feel as if I was falling through nothing, like I was sinking in a pit of goo that had no feeling. I couldn't even see my hands in front of my face. Eventually all I see is a bright blue. So bright I could almost say it was blinding. It takes me a moment to let my eye adjust but when they do I'm met with an amazing sight.

Sky blue. I decided staring at the wonderful color in front of me.

As my vision starts to clear more I find myself plummeting from the sky. Really I actually was. I begin to feel the wind whistling through my ears. My clothes flap flimsily around in the air. When I finally register the situation into my brain I realise something. There's no way I'll survive a fall like this. My back was facing the ground, or the lack of one and I can see fluffy looking clouds in the distance. I start to panic a bit when I realize I was going to die but I calm myself down enough to twist around in the air and see what I'm falling towards. I swear there was something wrong with my head.

I stare down at what was below. Well it was kinda hard to see because all the air rushing into my face made my eyes water. Anyways, what I saw was….more blue. It was a darker blue this time though. It was a blue that most people would call the ocean. Because that's what it was.

I'm seriously going insane though. First I think I'm falling through the sky after I jump off a swing and now I'm seeing even more blue than necessary. I'm pretty sure there's a disorder or something like that for seeing blue everywhere. It's called Cyanopsia, I think. Why am I thinking about things like this right now?

When I came back to my senses, I realized I was going to have to collide with something. Either it was going to be the ocean or that other blue thing. It was leaning towards the blue object. But you have no idea which one I'm talking about do you? Here I'll describe it as best as I can before I collide with it.

…That blue thing that I am about to hit looks a lot like a flaming blue chicken and a pineapple. Probably a hybrid of some kind.

Wait what?


	2. Who are you, yoi?

**_A/N: Soooo...tell me what you guys think and thanks for the reviews last chapter. Yea that's all I got to say so enjoy the chapter! _**

**_Oh yea and I don't own One Piece. I never have and I never will._**

* * *

_Chapter 2: Who are you, yoi?_

Marco strolled around on deck leisurely as he watched his brothers and sisters scramble around preparing to dock at an island. It was times like these that he was glad he was first division commander.

"We should be there in about 10 minutes!" he heard one of the navigators shout. Sweet, he might fly out ahead to scout the island. He turned towards his captain, Whitebeard, who was sitting in his chair out on deck.

"Oyaji, I'm going to go ahead and check out the island, yoi." He said. Whitebeard nodded his head with approval and Marco starts to take off in his full phoenix form. He had barely reached five feet in the air yet when he heard, "MARCO! Lemme ride you!"

"No way, yoi." Marco said in his usual lazy manner.

"But you promised that you would let me ride you the next time you were flying." Ace whined, throwing his arms around the blue phoenix into a full body tackle hug thingy. Sometimes it was hard to believe that this was their second division commander.

"No I didn't, you just made that up." Marco sighed. He really wanted to just be off and to explore but here he was trying to get Ace off his back. Quite literally. "Ace, get off, yoi. No I'm not going to give you a ride. Just wait like 5 more minutes and you can burn all your energy off on the island."

Ace looks at Marco right in the eye and sticks out his bottom lip, giving Marco the puppy dog eyes. Really now? The _Fire Fist_ was giving the puppy dog eyes? That would have been a sight for the marines. Considering that Ace was known as a demon made of flames to them. Marco sighed. It seems like the look Ace was giving him was too much. "Fine, I'll let you ride. Next time though."

"Really?!"

"Yes, really."

"Like really really?"

"Yes, now leave me alone, yoi"

"YAY!" Ace was ecstatic. He tackled Marco into another hug, showing his gratefulness. He then threw Marco one of his famous grins and began to stroll away, barely containing his excitement.

Marco sighed for what seemed like the millionth time today but Ace's actions had brought a smile to his face nonetheless. Ace may be annoying but he was still his brother.

Marco turned his attention back to the island and got a rush of excitement. Even after so many years of being a pirate, he still gets excited whenever they encounter a new island. It's one of the joys of being a pirate.

Excited for another adventure, Marco flew up in his full phoenix form until he was hovering above the Moby Dick. He could see Ace below chasing Thatch around on deck for some unknown reason. Everyone seems to be happy that they would get to stretch out on land. He was so absorbed in watching his brothers and sisters that he failed to notice an object hurtling towards him.

* * *

Oh what's that falling out of the sky? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's Marco the Phoenix!

Well technically I guess we could call that a bird.

Thatch, completely forgetting about Ace, stopped in his tracks as he saw Marco crash on deck after getting hit by an unknown object from the sky. Ace, who was chasing Thatch, was unable to stop in time and slammed straight into Thatch's back sending both of them tumbling face first into the deck

All activity on deck froze. Everybody turned to look towards Ace and Thatch then shifted their gazes over to Marco. The scene would have been funny if Marco hadn't been shot out of the sky. Just about nothing can throw Marco off his guard.

At first it was too hard to see Marco due to the cloud of dust and debris. It seems that Marco had left a hole in the deck. Thatch was the first and only one to investigate. He slowly crept closer towards the cloud of dust only to jump back to avoid a sudden outburst of blue flames.

Some cursing and profanities followed.

"Marco are you ok?" Thatch asked.

"I'm fine, yoi." Marco said, climbing back onto deck through the hole he created. In his arms is a girl. She has waving black hair that reached just barely past her shoulders. She has a dark purple and black backpackover top of a black pea coat with a white V-neck tee shirt. Dark blue skinny jeans and brown boots finished the outfit. It was clear that she was unconscious.

There was an awkward silence, nobody was really sure what to do. The silence was broken by the one and only, Portgas D. Ace.

"Damn Marco, you're a chick magnet."

* * *

Jenn woke up to the smell of antiseptics. Groggily, she sat up and looked around. The room had white walls and rows of neatly made beds. Her first thought, hospital. Her second thought, OMG where's my phone?! She frantically starts patting at her pockets and looking around the room for her backpack.

The door closes and Jenn snaps her head up to see who just entered. Before her stood a man in about his mid-forties, wearing a white lab coat. Stereotypical doctor for ya right there.

Before she even gets a chance to say anything the doctor holds his hand up and stops her.

"Call me Doc. You have a concussion and a couple of bruised ribs so take it easy for a bit. And if you're wondering where you are, welcome to the Moby Dick. I'm going to go tell the commander that you're awake. Please wait here."

He hands Jenn a glass of water and walks out the door before she even gets a chance to process everything he just said. She was just left there, still gaping at the doctor's sudden outburst.

After a minute the gears in her head start to move. 'Moby Dick? Oh so that's what the flaming blue chicken was. Oops. Jeez now how am I going to explain this?'

Jenn is snapped out of her thoughts as Marco walks in followed by Ace.

"Ace go away and bother someone else. I have things to do, yoi."

"But Maaaarco! That's what everyone tells me!" Ace says waving his hands around in the air.

"Then go and do your paperwork for once and quit dumping it all on me to do." Marco said, irritated.

Jenn just watched the argument with great interest from her bed. She has to admit that damn they were hot. They noticed her stare after a bit and stopped arguing, trying to maintain their intimidating aura. And failed horriblyafter Ace burst out into one of his famous grins.

"So what's your name?" Ace asked, practically bouncing around the room.

"Isn't it polite to state your name first before you ask for someone else's?" Jenn replied, surprising herself. She usually spoke in a much more polite manner and probably would have answered him normally. He didn't actually have to tell her who she was, she already knew.

"I'm a pirate, what do I care about politeness? But you do do have a point! Portgas D. Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."

"Marco, First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. " Marco said, walking up to stand by Ace at the foot of the bed.

"Jennifer, erm...titleless, I guess." What could she really call herself? Highschool student? Nah, that sounds too lame. And it's not like they know what a highschool is anyways.

"Titleless?" Marco asked, raising an eyebrow. God she wish she could do that. She's tried raising an eyebrow so many times and just ends up looking like an idiot.

"Well, I don't have a profession or anything. I'm still just a student." Jenn said, slightly embarrassed that she didn't have anything impressive to say.

"Did I just hear that correctly?" Ace asked, with a mischievous looking smirk on his face.

"That I'm a student? "

" No...that Marco got his butt kicked by a nerd!" Ace said, laughing.

"I didn't 'get my butt kicked' yoi."

"And I'm not a nerd!"

"..."

"..."

" Wait what?! What did you mean by 'kicked Marco's butt' ?" Jenn was really confused. She knew that she went flying out of the sky and probably hit the pretty blue phoenix who was Marco but just how bad was it?

"Oh you know, you just came falling out of the sky from nowhere and took Marco right out of the sky. Broke a couple of his ribs, just the usual. Good thing he broke the fall though or else you'd be a goner." Ace said it so calmly it was hard to believe that Jenn could have died. It almost sounds like an everyday occurrence.

Jenn was at a loss for words. "I'm not sure if I should be thanking you for saving my life or apologizing for injuring you."

" I'm fine, yoi. No need for thanks or apologies."

Jenn shifted uncomfortably in the bed before deciding to get up and maybe start moving around. She swung her legs over to the side of the bed until they were just barely dangling above the floor. Beside the bed was her backpackand boots, and her jacket neatly folded on a chair.

When she stood up a wave of dizziness made her stumble a bit before she balanced herself by putting her hand down on the bed. 'Right concussion.' She thought.

"Well, we are docked at an island, let's go exploring and we can talk there, kay? Plus I haven't gotten to leave the ship yet." Ace said, bounding towards the door.

Marco followed and looked back at Jenn, who put on her boots and walked towards the door. Something in his mind told him that she wasn't dangerous and definately not an undercover marine.

When they opened the door to the deck, Jenn was completely blown away by the sight. There were pirates all around on deck and the ship was enormous.

"Ace, Marco!" Thatch waved. "So this is the little girlie that took Marco out of the sky."

Jenn just grinned, excited to meet Thatch in person. "My name's Jennifer." She said, sticking out her hand for a handshake.

Thatch returned the shake. "A polite one, now aren't ya?"

" She's a nerd, that's why." Ace said.

"No I'm not. "

" I consider every person who studies or has anything to do with paperwork a nerd."

" Ace, you just called every division commander a nerd, yoi. " Marco pointed out.

"Oh crap. I should probably start running then!" Ace exclaimed after a moment of realization.

"You got five seconds." That was all Thatch needed to say to make Ace run for his life. Marco and Thatch took off after Ace after the five seconds were up, leaving Jenn standing there by herself. It wasn't for long though. She was approached by the strongest man in the world.

"Follow me, young one. We need to talk in private." Whitebeard said, leading the way towards his personal cabin..room..thingy. And she did.

* * *

Jenn closed the door behind her and turned to face the giant of a man.

"You don't seem to be afraid of me." He said in his low baritone voice.

"Everybody has to die someday and if I anger the strongest man in the world then it's my own fault." Jenn said with as my bravery as she could muster. The truth is, she's terrified but in a way she was also really excited too. She finally gets to meet Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, the strongest man in the world!

"Gurararara! I like it, good answer. What's your name, brat?"

" Jennifer. Just plain old Jennifer."

" You don't look like you're from around here. Where do you come from?"

"Would you laugh if I told you I was from another world?"

"That just makes it more interesting." Whitebeard said. But that wasn't what surprised her. What he said after did.

"How would you like to become one of my daughters?"

Well that was fast.

* * *

**Ha! If you though Jenn wasn't going to join the crew that early then your wrong! Or will she?**


	3. Trouble already?

**Ahhh! So sorry for the late update! I was really busy! I had a piano competition/ festival thingy and my mommy kept nagging me to practice. But you guys probably don't want to hear that. So here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece because if I did no one would know about it because it would be really crappy.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Trouble already?

Jenn shut the door behind her and left to go find Marco. She stumbled a bit, still feeling dizzy. Ace was still running around on deck, now being chased by more than just Marco and Thatch. She was just about to approach them when her path got cut off.

"What are you doing out of the sick bay?" It was Doc. "You are not allowed to be walking around! Didn't I make thay clear?" He grabbed Jenn's wrist and dragged her back to the sick bay.

"B-but I'm fine!" Jenn tried to protest. It didn't work very well though. Doc just forced her back into bed.

"We will discuss this later. For now just get some rest and don't leave again." He said, sternly

As he left, something along the lines of 'Gonna kill Ace and Marco... And never going to leave a patient alone with them again' could be heard as he muttered under his breath.

Jenn just listened until he stormed out of the room and slammed the door. Then she decided to take a nap. Naps are good.

* * *

"Come on, I already said I was sorry!" Ace whined. He was laying in the middle of the deck with Marco and Thatch sitting on top of him. The rest of the commanders were surrounding him with looks of satisfaction on their faces. It had taken them a while to catch him.

"We're not letting you go until you promise not to cheat your way out of your punishment." Haruta said. Several other commanders nodded in agreement. Everybody knew that Ace always manages to find a way out of doing any work. Not this time.

"But that's not fair!"

"Ace, all you have to do is take every commander's look out shift this week and you're free to go."

"But that's too many! That's like 16 shifts."

"Then maybe the next time you're being chased, you won't continue taunting everybody aa you run around the entire ship!"

"I wasn't taunting everybody."

"You're right, yoi." Marco started. Ace opened his mouth to proudly proclaim that even Marco agreed with him but Marco interrupted him before he could start. "You didn't taunt everybody. You taunted only the commanders."

The commanders laughed. Ace just pouted. He knew it was true and that there was no way he could get out of this one. But maybe, just maybe if he lit himself on fire he could get away.

"Don't even think about it, yoi."

Drats. They were onto him. Time for the final trick he had up his sleeve. Uhh well actually he didn't have sleeves. Anyways, you get the point!

"What happened to Jenn?" Ace asked, faking innocence. It seemed to have gotten the commanders' attention though and those who hadn't met her yet were curious. While Marco was distracted, (only for a second but that's all he needed) Ace took the chance to ignite himself and make a break for it.

Poor Thatch, who was sitting on Ace, let out a very unmanly shriek. Red and orange flames burst out around them, a quick sharp outburst appearing so suddenly and then they were gone, extinguished just as fast. They never hurt anybody, but they were good enough of a distraction for Ace to disappear.

Haruta growled in annoyance. "That clever devil. He can't hide forever though."

From afar, Ace watched as Haruta went on a rant about what a troublemaker he was. She was right though, he couldn't hide forever. But he could hide until they got tired of looking for him. That way he wouldn't have to deal with an angry Haruta.

Ace shuddered at that thought. Angry Haruta. Now that was what he called scary.

Too bad Haruta isn't the only thing that's scary when angry. Marco sure is getting a mouthful from Doc down there. With all that gesturing Ace was glad that he didn't have to be a part of that. Just hide out in the crow's nest and life is good. Though the crow's nest isn't exactly a great hiding spot it still beats being down th- Noooo! Not now! Why?!

Thud... Darn you narcoleptic fit.

* * *

I woke up to a white room that seemed oddly familiar. The white walls and orderly rows of beds, and that awful smell of antiseptics. Familiar. And it wasn't the type of familiar like stuff I remember seeing on TV, it was more like I've actually been here before.

I don't know why but I figured it was a good idea to leave. What could possibly be better than exploring? So I headed for the door and slowly pushed it open, as if to not alert anybody of my presence.

Shielding my eyes as I wait for them to adjust from the blinding sunlight, I take a couple of steps forward. I can feel a soft breeze and the warm sunshine on my skin. I can also hear the gentle sound of lapping waves.

Waves. I didn't live anywhere near the ocean though. Or any large body of water. But before I was able to ponder the thought any longer, strong hands grabbed me and whisked me away.

I would have screamed or thrashed around or anything, but it all happened so quickly that I didn't get much of a chance.

I was plopped gently back onto the bed

"You can't leave yet, yoi. Doc's gonna kill me."

It took me a second to register what was going on but when I looked at my captor...

...AHHHH! IT'S MARCO THE PHOENIX! Must..not..start fangirling. Oh look! There's Ace! Wow he's even hotter in real life! But why are they handcuffed together?

"Jenn? Do you not remember me?" Ace asked, waving his free hand in front of my face after I zoned out in my thoughts.

"W-wha? Wait a second! You know my name?!" I gushed, finally shaken out of my shock. That's so AWESOME! So much for keeping my cool.

"See Ace, I told you that Doc wasn't going to be wrong, yoi." Marco said, he seemed pretty grumpy. I wouldn't blame him though. He's handcuffed to Ace, that's good enough of a reason to be grumpy.

"So you actually don't remember me?"

"Ace we went over this already, yoi."

"Go over it again then."

Marco sighed. "To put it in really simple terms, Jenn has a bad concussion. She can't remember recent memories. So she doesn't remember you. Or me."

"But she was ok yesterday!" Ace exclaimed, I can't believe he still didn't get it.

I finally got the general idea of what happened after Marco's explanation. "Ace, think of it as if I was sleep walking before." I tried to explain.

Ace slammed his fist downward onto his palm as a sign of understanding. "So you were sleep walking, sleep talking, sleep thinking, sleep explaining, and sleep listening... And you don't remember anything!"

I sweatdrop. "Uhhh...Sure?"

"What's the last thing you remember, yoi?"

I had to think about it a bit. "I was at home doing my math homework and-"

"Nerd." Ace suddenly interuppted. Marco gave him a good smack to the head. "Ok ok sorry, I'm done."

"And then I decided to go somewhere but I don't remember the rest."

"That's alright. I'm going to go tell Oyaji and get Doc... Stay. Here. And. Don't. Leave." Marco stressed. Once I had nodded, he began to leave, dragging and protesting Ace along with him. The door seemed to move painstakingly slow but eventually I heard the soft click of the door shutting. Now that there's no one around...

OMG! WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING HERE?! I CAN'T BE HERE! I HAVE THINGS I STILL WANNA DO IN MY WORLD! AND ON THE WHITEBEARD CREW?! I CAN'T SURVIVE IN A WORLD LIKE THIS! Whoa there, just take a deep breath. I can't actually be in One Piece world so now I need to think logically. No more freaking out. Maybe I'm just having one heck of a crazy dream. Or I actually have gone insane.

No you're the insane one!

No you are!

No you!

Yea you! Not me!

What are you talking about? We're the same person.

What am I doing? Am I arguing with myself in my head? DANG, I GUESS I AM INSANE! .

But what if I am in One Piece world? Nah I just hit my head like Marco said and now I'm hallucinating. It should go away soon... But everything seems so real. Ok maybe it's fine to freak out just a little.

Doc walks in and gives me a curious look but doesn't question what's going on in my head. "Start remembering stuff yet?"

"Eh. No, just freaking out about being here." I reply honestly. I didn't really see the point of hiding anything. If they ask, I'll answer. He justs chuckles at me.

"We get that alot. Some kid gets in a bit of trouble with us pirates and suddenly they find themselves on our ship because the old man likes them. For what reason though, I never really understand."

"I never thought I'd suddenly wake up on the ship of the strongest man in the world."

"But you did. So now that you're here I need your help. I owe Marco and Ace a good prank." Doc said with an evil smile in his face.

I happily agree because I am curious and it sounds like fun. Who cares about the details of how I got here. I might as well enjoy it while I can.

* * *

I sneak out down the hall and count the doors as I go. The fourth door to the right. I knock and wait patiently.

"Uhhh...come in?" I hear a voice from behind the door. I let myself in and see Haruta sitting behind her desk. Paperwork scattered around the desk located to the wall to the left of the door. Beside it against the wall opposite to the door was a not-so-neatly made bed.

Haruta had a look of slight confusion on her face when I stepped in but once she spotted me it morphed into a look of understanding and a big grin breaks out. "I was wondering why my door was knocked! Here I thought Ace finally had the decency to actually get permission before bursting into my room!"

I laughed at that. I haven't seen Ace's crazy side yet, everything I know about Ace was from the anime/manga where all the scenes were serious. Oda has never actually shown a mischievous side of Ace. Something I was looking forward to.

"So did you need something?" Haruta asked.

"Yeah, I'm helping Doc pull a prank on Marco and Ace. He told me to go to you because you know all the best hiding places."

"And he was right! Haha I like you already! If you're already pranking people now I can't wait to see you meet Thatch! I think I already know what you're getting at with this one. It's a simple trick but the most effective one if you want to prank Marco. All you gotta do is follow me." She got up from her seat, abandoning all her paperwork even though there was a mountain of it.

We sneak down the hall, turn a couple of confusing corners, then go up a flight of stairs. When we get to the top of the stairs Haruta brings a finger to her mouth, indicating that we need to be quiet. She began to cautiously walk across the hall as if it were a field full of land mines. I stare down at the dark brown wood in front of me known as the floor. It was the same color, same texture, same everything as the floor in the hall earlier. But clearly there was something different. The way Haruta tapped on each board with her toe was a dead giveaway. Eventually, when we were about three quarters down the hall, Haruta turned around and grinned at me. She could tell I was confused, so she pushed her foot down on the boarded flooring beside her, putting her full weight on a single plank.

A slight creak gave way.

It was so discreet that I would have missed it if I wasn't listening for it. Definitely not something that would ever be noticed if even small conversation between two people were to occur.

"I just found this one recently so I didn't know exactly where it was." Haruta explained, pulling the creaky plank up. "Now listen. We are directly above the sickbay right now. There's a space between this floor and the roof of the sick bay. We can hide in here and spy on them at the same time."

A couple more planks came up off the floor leaving a hole big enough for us to climb in. I hopped in followed by Haruta who carefully place the planks back to their original location, covering the gap over our heads and concealing us.

The small space stretched out in the darkness, though some light shone through holes in the wood. The space was only large enough for me to get down on my hands and knees to crawl.

"We are directly above the sickbay so we won't have to move anywhere."

I nodded, laying down flat on my stomach. I scoot over making room for Haruta to lay down beside me in between the two support beams. We both peered over the small gap in the wood that showed the sickbay. The gap was about only the size of my hand in width but nearly an arm's length long. It gave a perfect view of the sickbay door and the bed I was at. We were unable to see all the way down the entire sickbay but we only needed to see the entrance.

"So it's not even a little bit weird to you that I'm pulling pranks before I even get to know you guys? I asked while we waited for Marco and Ace.

"Oh it's like the weirdest thing in the world. Most newbies crap their pants when they find out whose ship their on. I just go along with it because a chance to prank Marco is a chance worth taking."

I open my mouth to reply but quickly snap it shut as Marco and Ace walk into the sick bay.

"Hey Nerd, we...oi where is she?" Ace suddenly realized that I wasn't there anymore. Marco was already searching for me.

"Jeez we leave for five minutes and she's already gone. Come on Ace, we gotta find her before Doc does, yoi."

Ace sighed. "Doc's gonna kill us, isn't he?"

"Not if he doesn't know. Hurry up before we die, yoi." Marco said, dragging Ace towards the exit frantically. They both bolt out the door with Ace slamming it shut behind him.

"Wow, I never thought it would be that big of a deal to leave the sickbay without Doc's permission." I said, after they left.

"Yeah it's a small crisis if you do. Though Doc is generally nice if you follow the rules."

"Now what should we do? Hide out here?"

"I say we should go to the galley. They'll definitely look there first. After they leave we can sneak in and they'll won't check again until they've searched the entire ship."

"Sounds like a plan. I am getting hungry anyways."

"Lunch will be soon anyway so we can probably blend in with the crowd. It gets completely packed on deck right before lunch." As if to clarify her statement, loud voices and heavy footsteps of the rambunctious pirates could be heard thundering from the floorboards right above our heads.

"Is there two ways to get to the galley?" I ask.

"Yup, there's easy access from the commander's hall and an entrance from on deck. How'd you know?"

"I got a little lost trying to find your room earlier." I said, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly.

Haruta suddenly jumped up, pushing the floorboards up along with her. "If we don't move now, we'll lose our only opportunity. To the commander's hall, quickly!"

We both bolted down the hall with me hot on her heels. Wouldn't want to get lost on the way. Because I know I will. We ran into Vista on the way to the galley.

"What are you two doing?" His deep baritone voice echoed a bit through the commander's hall.

"Shhhh... You'll get us caught!" Haruta scolded. "Nevermind what we're doing, just act like you never saw us."

"Sure as long as I don't get caught up in the crossfire." He didn't even hesitate. It seem like this conversation happens alot.

"Promise you won't tell anyone!"

"Alright."

"Thanks Vista! Oh and nice mustache by the way!" I said as Haruta grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me along.

"Did you just - Awww no. Out of all the nice things you could have said to him you had to compliment his mustache! Now he's never going to shut up about it." Haruta complained.

"Oh come on, it couldn't possibly be that bad."

"Just you wait and see."

We finally make it to the galley. I gape at the sheer monstrosity of the room. It was huge!

"And I thought my house was pretty big." I breathed. Haruta just laughed at me and continues to drag me along.

"I have to introduce you to Thatch, because if we pull a prank without letting him know he'll throw a hissy fit." Haruta said. I knew exactly who Thatch was before even meeting him. His death is practically the reason why the Marineford war happened in the first place. I'm not blaming him for dying, that would be ridiculous. But I do plan on saving him this time around. My thoughts continued to dwell on the subject until I found myself face to face with the fourth division commander.

"It's Girlie!" Thatch exclaimed. Someone was happy to see me. He stuck his hand out for a handshake, introducing himself. "I'm Thatch, Fourth Division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."

"Huh, I feel like I've done this before." I said, shaking his hand. "Jennifer, I don't have a cool title like you."

"Haha, you're right we have done this before! I just thought I should introduce myself again because you don't remember us." He exclaimed, laughing. What a jolly guy! His carefree aura was contagious and I couldn't help but find myself laughing along.

"Thatch! We don't have time for this! We need your help pulling pranks." Haruta interuppted.

"Ohhh, a prank?"

* * *

Ace and Marco were frantically searching the ship for Jenn. At first they ran into the galley, Marco said it was the most obvious spot. She wasn't there and after about 5 more minutes of searching high and low Marco was really starting to panic.

"Where could she have ran off to, yoi? I know Moby is a big ship but we've been everywhere!"

They were back on deck after running around through the various hallways and rooms on the Moby Dick.

"Oh, I know! Let's go ask Vista!" Ace said, pulling Marco along towards Vista who just stepped out on deck. "Vista! Have you seen Nerd?"

Vista raisef an eyebrow in interest. "You mean Jenn? Yeah, I've seen her around. Would you believe that she complimented my mustache? I told you my mustache was beautiful."

"Yeah ok, yoi. Now where did you see Jenn?"

"Ahh, that would be a secret. I promised not to tell. But I'll give you a hint. She was with Haruta."

Marco cursed and sprinted off with Ace to Haruta's room. She wasn't there.

"Calm down Marco. She's with Haruta. Which means technically we didn't lose her. So we won't get in trouble."

"But who's responsible for letting Jenn leave the sickbay? Us. Who's gonna get in trouble? Us, yoi."

"Pshhhh. It can't be that bad."

"Doc will make sure that you don't get dessert today." Marco said, giving Ace a bit of time to let that sink in.

"...AHH MARCO! WE GOTTA GO FIND HER!"

Marco just sighs. If Vista wouldn't tell them anything, it looks like they'd have to do things themselves. Back to the deck they go. Luckily they ran into Thatch, who just left the galley.

"Marco! Guess what?"

"We're busy, Thatch. You can tell us later."

"Nope, this is important. I went to fetch Jenn and see if she wanted to eat lunch with us. But I had to get permission from Doc first or else he would murder me. So when I went to go ask Doc he said he would go and check up on her first before she could leave. But he was busy checking the inventory for his medical supplies below deck so he said he would be a couple of minutes. Buuuut... Jenn isn't in the sickbay."

"We know that! We only have a couple more minutes before Doc gets up here. Help us Thatch!" Ace pleaded.

"I gotta help make lunch. Have fun!" Thatch waved, walking back to the galley with a huge grin on his face.

After another thorough search around deck (and in the crow's nest) Ace and Marco decided to give up and go for lunch.

As Ace opened the door to the galley, sparkling pink paint splattered down on them, soaking them head to toe.

"...THATCH!" Marco was angry, like really angry. But it was a little hard to take him seriously now that he was pink.

The crew erupted into hysterical laughter. The entire mess hall was filled with pirates getting ready for lunch. Jenn was sitting along with all the commanders at their own table. She had been introduced to all the commanders just a while ago.

"Now Marco, listen. I need to inform you that this wasn't my idea! It was all... Jenn!" Thatch said, pointing an accusing finger in Jenn's direction.

"What?! Thatch, you traitor! It wasn't my idea! I couldn't come up with something like that!"

"Heheh. Marco, how about we let Nerd off the hook." Ace said, laughing. He wasn't upset at being pranked at all. In fact, he looked like he was enjoying this.

"And why in the world would I ever do that, yoi?"

"Let's say Nerd's free to go if she can name all the division commanders. ." Ace struck a deal with Marco. Yup, he was definitely enjoying this. But some of the crewmates clearly didn't agree.

"Hey, Ace! No need to be cruel!"

"There's no way she'll be able to do that!"

"Cut the noobie some slack!"

While some clearly didn't think Jenn could do it, others were placing bets.

"How much are you willing to bet that she can't do it?!"

"C'mon girlie, you can do it! I bet alot on ya!"

"Haha! Yea! Go Girlie!" Thatch cheered, clearly glad the he was off the hook.

"Alright." Marco agreed, confident that Jenn wouldn't be able to pull it off.

Everybody turned to look at Jenn. The entire mess hall was silent, waiting to see if Jenn would be able to take up the challenge. Whitebeard watched her with growing interest from his seat.

"Gurarara, go ahead brat."

Jenn calmly took a deep breath and... "Marco, Ace, Jozu, Thatch, Vista, Blamenco, Rakuyo, Namur, Blenheim, Curiel, Kingdew, Haruta, Atmos, Jiru, Fossa, and Izo."

...

It was silent as everyone processed what she just said. "Whoa. She was dead on." Thatch said. "We didn't even introduce ourselves in order."

The crew did various things at the same time. Some laughed, some were yelling, some fights even broke out. Thatch returned the key to the handcuffs to Marco and Ace and told them to get cleaned up. The cooks started bringing out food, tons of it and everybody was just having a good time.

"Brat, have you decided to take up my offer?" Whitebeard asked. The offer for her to join his crew was still fresh in her mind. He had asked her again after he had entered the galley, being told by Doc that Jenn wouldn't remember. To say Jenn was a little intimidated by the old man was an understatement. She had practically hid behind Thatch. He was a little surprised that she had loss the sass from previous but when he laughed, the sass came back and she snapped; saying that it 'wasn't funny that he was so freaking huge.' Of course she realized what she had done and profusely apologized afterwards. He liked the brat. And he wanted her to join the crew. He wouldn't force her to become a pirate but that doesn't mean he won't try to convince her.

"I'm not too sure yet, sir. I think I need more time to think on it." Jenn replied. She knew somewhere in her heart that she really wanted to join. But at the moment there were too many things holding her back.

"Don't worry about it, brat. It'll be an entire week before we reach the next island. You can make your decision then. But for now, you're a guest aboard this ship."

"_This will be fun."_Jenn thought as she dodged an unknown substance.

"HEY! DON'T WASTE FOOD DAMMIT!"

* * *

**A/N: So it's not exactly a super exciting chappy but I wanted to develop Jenn's personality a bit more. Don't worry it will pick up next chapter and the handcuffs will be explained. And it won't take as long to update next time. I promise... hopefully. **

**Don't forget to review if you guys have any questions or suggestion or whatever else!**


	4. Stupid Marine

**Helllloo! Haha let's just get this over with.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Never have, never will.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Stupid marines

I walk down the commander's hall in search of Marco's room. Three doors down - just like the band. I had to keep making little connections to help me remember where everything was. Moby Dick was such a huge ship.

I stare at the lightly colored door in front of me, the swirls on the the wood entrancing me for a moment. I knocked.

"Come in, yoi."

I let myself in and hop onto his bed, sitting cross-legged. Marco was sitting at his desk with a pile of papers to his right. He just looked at me curiously. I don't think he has me figured out yet.

"Did you need something?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I need something to do. I'm bored."

"Can't you go bother someone else? I'm busy doing paperwork. I'm sure Thatch would love for you to help him pull pranks."

"Nah, I don't wanna pull pranks. Want help with your paperwork? I know Ace dumps his work on you all the time."

"You're actually offering to help with paperwork rather than go pull pranks, yoi? I really don't know what goes on in your head."

"_I_ don't even know what goes on in my head. Now let me see what you're doing." I said, getting up off his unmade bed - I swear none of these pirates make their beds - and looked over his shoulder at his papers. "Oh, it's just math. What are you doing math for?"

"Making sure all these retards don't spend away all of our money. We're pirates, not rich." Marco groaned. I started picking through the piles of paper on his desk. They were all mostly reports and information on various pirates. I read through a couple of confusing reports on rookie pirates while Marco worked. It wasn't until about five minutes later that I realized, "You're still not done that page yet?"

He raises an eyebrow at me. "What do you mean, yoi? I've only been working on it for a couple of minutes."

"Oh gimme that." I said, grabbing the small pile of papers. I stole his pencil and plopped down on his bed. He just shrugged, and moved on to work on other things. Within in ten minutes I was done the entire bundle.

"Marco I'm done." I said. He flipped through all the pages - not quite believing that I finished it that quickly.

"How, yoi?"

I shrugged. "It wasn't that hard. It was mostly just adding and subtracting."

Marco suddenly started laughing. "So you really are a nerd!"

"Shhh... Don't tell Ace."

"Haha I won't, yoi." He said, putting the papers away in a folder. "So have you made a decision yet?"

"I don't know. I feel like I'm postponing it for too long. It's already been three days."

"Hey no pressure. You have until we reach the next island. And don't worry, no hard feelings if you don't want to join. It'd leave a bad taste in my mouth to think that we forced you into pirating."

I thought about it for a bit when a thought suddenly occured to me. "Hey Marco, how can you guys let me walk around like this? Aren't you afraid that I might be dangerous?"

"You're not strong enough to hurt any of us even if you wanted to. And Oyaji's instincts are hardly ever wrong. If he wants you on his crew then you're most likely a good person."

"So you're not worried at all?"

"Nah, I can tell that your a good person, yoi."

I huff out a sigh of relief. I was afraid that he was going to say he had his doubts about me. Before I was able to reply though...

"Girlie! Where'd cha go?" A loud clear voice rang down the hallway.

"Sounds like Thatch needs someone to bug. Have fun, yoi!"

"Alright, time to cause some trouble." I said, hopping off Marco's bed. "Chill out Marco!"

He seemed confused by the comment but I didn't bother explaining. I pop out of Marco's room and close the door behind me to let Marco continue doing whatever he was doing. Thatch was standing at the other end of the hall, next to the door to the deck.

"There you are, Girlie! What were you doing in Marco's room?"

"I was helping him out with paperwork." I've gotten used to Thatch calling me Girlie. It was just his thing - like how Ace refuses to call me anything other than Nerd. I haven't thought of any nicknames for them yet but I'm still working on it.

"In that case, ya wanna help me out in the kitchen?"

"Yup! Are we gonna be cooking?"

"Of course we are! I'm the head chef. I can't slack off forever." He said, walking off into the kitchen.

"I can't cook." I confess. I can feel the heat rising to my face. "Actually I can but not very well."

"Lots to learn, Girlie!" Thatchjust laughed it off like it was no big deal. All these pirates were so laid back - they didn't have a care in the world. They lived life the way it should be lived.

Free.

I know I long for something like that, for someone to lean on, to trust, and to be able to live life for what it was. There was no pressure on this ship, everybody just does their thing and nobody judges. Sure there may be aome jokes and teasing but it never gets to the point that it's offensive.

"Come on, Girlie! I'll show you a couple of things!" To be honest, Thatch really liked the Girlie. She has a great personality, fun to be around, and just sincere in general. He can tell that she really wants to join the crew. But she's having her own personal battles about it.

He won't interfere.

No else will either. Everybody understands that this is a decision Jenn gets to make on her own, if they do anything to sway her choice it's not fair to her, but also they may end up holding her back in life. Being a pirate isn't easy.

We both walk into the kitchen area - it was massive just like most things on Moby. I find myself completely awestruck by the sight. And this wasn't even the first time I've seen it. I remember three days ago when Thatch gave me a grand tour of the Moby Dick. it had taken us nearly a full hour. Mostly because I was so curious about how everything worked. We never even toured the entire ship - Thatch told me that most things below deck was just storage.

"Still as amazing as day one, eh?" Thatch laughed at my expression. I must look ridiculous.

"Yeah." I breathed. The kitchen just spoke something extraordinary - a combination of stainless steel and wood. But it somehow still worked together. Stell appliances amd wooden cabinets. The wood is a deeper, darker color from the rest of the ship - it's more like a dark cherry brown opposed to the bright sandy color of everything else. I'm no interior designer but it just seemed right.

I quietly begin to help Thatch gather the ingredients. There were other chefs around and they were all so concentrated, I didn't want to ruin that.

When Thatch began to actually cook, I could hardly follow his movements. His hand seemed to just glide over the vegetables and suddenly as if he had super powers, they transformed. Sliced, diced, chopped - you name it. I hardly saw him chop them

_So this is decades of experience._ I thought to myself. " I wonder how long it will be until I can cook like that."

"Girlie, go to the fridge and grab the shredded piggy bits for me."

"The what?"

"The shredded piggy bits."

"Thatch. I don't know what your talking about."

"I got it." One of the other chefs, Francis if I remember correctly, quickly went to gather Thatch's shredded piggy bits. "Don't mind him. He has a weird habit of renaming his foods. In this case, shredded piggy bits is his name for ground pork."

"I know Thatch is weird but.."

"You're starting to question his sanity? I've been questioning it for a long time now."

"Something like that." I said as I continue to watch Thatch cook. He seems to just fly around the kitchen - his movements are so fluid and natural, never missing a beat.

I don't know how it happened - my mind tends to wander alot - but a thought suddenly occured to me. "Hey Francis, why were Ace and Marco handcuffed together the other day?"

" Oh that."

* * *

-Miniflashback-

Francis stepped out of the galley to see all the commanders huddled around in a group in the middle of the deck. He couldn't see what they were all looking at but he heard them.

"Come on, I already said I was sorry!" It was Ace. Looks like he's in trouble.

"We're not letting you go until you promise not to cheat your way out of your punishment." Haruta this time.

"But that's not fair!" Wow, he's definately not getting out of this one.

Francis didn't even bother staying. He had better things to do, like taking a nice hot shower. But as he began to walk away he sees a huge pillar of fire erupt from the middle of the deck and suddenly disappear. It was so fast that if he had blinked he would have missed it. Maybe it was worth staying just a little longer.

Haruta started ranting about Ace. There were some words not worth repeating. That attracted some attention. And it also seems to have attracted Doc. Who started yelling at Marco.

"I've got look out right now." Jozu said, parting from the group of commanders. Francis turned to leave. For real this time. Or not.

The huge figure of the third division commander jumping out of the crow's nest was enough to keep Francis and several others just a couple moments longer. Jozu had a sleeping Ace slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Have fun with that." Jozu dropped Ace onto the deck before leaving for the crow's nest a second time.

Thatch and Haruta had a devilish smile on their faces.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Thatch eyed Haruta.

"Of course. Great minds think alike. Not that I'm saying your mind is great or anything."

"Oi!"

"Alright out with it. What are you people planning?"

"It's very simple. Marco is still getting heck from Doc and Ace is sleeping like a log right here. Izo has seastone cuffs. There is only one logical option."

Agreeing to Thatch's and Haruta's crazy plan (because the commanders liked to do crazy things) they quickly snuck up on Marco and handcuffed him to Ace.

"I really don't want to know." Francis muttered under his breath. He had watched the whole thing play out but soon realized that he probably didn't want to have anything to do with this one. It might get a bit dangerous.

-end of flashback-

* * *

"I feel bad for Marco. He didn't have anything to do with it and he still gets caught." I said.

"Ahh Marco gets blamed for everything."

"Ace even dumps all his paperwork on Marco."

"But Marco lets Ace get away with that because Ace has only been a commander for about 2 weeks."

"Only two weeks?"

"Yeah it sure doesn't feel li-"

"MARINES! STARBOARD SIDE!"

The chefs all immediately stopped what they were doing and started securing the dangerous kitchen items. Thatch returned to my side and dragged me out the door and through the commander's hall.

"Alright Girlie I gotta go find Marco. Just stay put here." Thatch instructed me before he grabbed his twin blades and dashed out the door.

I sat there stunned for a bit. I slowly came to and began to check out my surroundings. I was in Thatch's room. His room was just like every other commander's. It had the essentials - a desk, a bed, and a drawer for clothing. Of course there were differences. The cans of hair spray gave it away. In the far corner of the room was a stand for his swords.

The door burst open and I see Ace jump in.

"THATCH! HIDE ME IT'S MY GRANDPA!"

He finally saw me.

"I mean... Ahem. Hi Nerd, how's it going?"

I sweatdrop. "It's going great, Ace. I'm just chilling here."

"Soooo... Can I hide out in here with you?"

"...sure? But shouldn't you be outside fighting?"

" No way am I going back out there."

I can hear the fighting going on outside. It was getting really close.

CRASH!

One of the marine soldiers came crashing through the wall, landing in the middle of Thatch's room. Thatch is not going to like that.

"Crap! Run!" Ace freaked. He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the hole left by the marine.

Out on deck I finally got to see the battle that's been going on. The pirates and marines were fighting hard core but surprisingly no one seemed injured. The commanders weren't engaging in any 1-on-1 combat but were occasionally stepping in to help someone if they were having difficulty. The only person that seemed to be fighting as hard as they could was Marco.

Brilliant blue flames were shooting everywhere as Marco fought against Garp on his half phoenix form. He looked like he was having a lot of trouble with Garp.

Whitebeard was just watching the battle going on around him as he sat in his royal throne in the middle of the deck. He has an amused look on his face like he wasn't worried about a thing.

I didn't get to see anymore because Ace pushed me through a door so that we were hidden from sight. I didn't think that Ace was someone to run away from a fight. It made me angry.

"Ace! What are you doing? Why are we running away?!" My voice was quivering with rage. How could he just run away?

"Listen Nerd!" His tone mirrored mine. "It's the commander's job to watch over. I don't know if your aware of this but that was Oyaji's order the first day you came on board. If I go out there and fight, then I'm disobeying orders! You may not be a part of this crew but you're still my responsibility. Got it?!"

It took a second for it all to sink in. When it did I was still angry. Not at Ace but at myself. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't make assumptions about things I don't know."

"It's alright Nerd but right now you have a decision to make."

I look up at his dark stormy eyes, trying to read his thoughts. His gaze softened.

"Will you join the Whitebeard Pirates or not?"

I furrowed my brows. 3 days. It's only been 3 days. They told me I had all week.

"If you don't want to stay, you could get on that marine ship. They'll take you to the nearest island. I'm sure Garp wouldn't mind and it'd be safer too."

I know I want to join. I want it more than anything else in the world. But I couldn't. Shouldn't. I know I can't help them if I joined. I'd be a burden. I'm not even from this world! And I don't know how long I'll be here. Or how I'll get back. In fact, I know a lot of things. Like how I have family and friends waiting for me back in my own world.

I can feel my frustration building up as everything I've been thinking about suddenly seems so significant.

"Nerd. If you can manage to stay completely out of sight for the rest of the week that you're on board then we can probably get you to the next island. You could make your decision then. But if the marines see you right now then we have a problem."

It almost felt like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. "I'll just have to stay hidden then."

But that was no easy task. The marines were on the starboard (right) side of the ship. Ace and I were hiding on the port (left) side of the ship where the marines couldn't see us. But the hardest part was trying to get below deck. I'd have to be completely out in the open before I could get below deck. And Garp was also very insistent on finding Ace.

"Bwahaha!" I heard a crash. "That's the 12th time that I've beaten you! Marco the Phoenix! I can defeat you but defeating your captain will be no easy task. Therefore no matter how many times I win against you I've still lost." Marco was pinned to the floor by Garp, who was proudly announcing his victory. Neither looked injured severely it almost seemed like their fight was more of a friendly spar.

"You are getting better though, brat. Now, where's that grandson of mine? ACE!"

I can see Ace visibly shudder beside me. He grabbed my hand and we made a break for the door leading below deck. It was a futile attempt. But A+ for effort! All we needed was a few more extra steps. Too late Garp's already spotted us.

"ACE! ...I think you have some explaining to do." Garp had something between an amused look and an angry look on his face.

I didn't get it. What did Ace have to explain?

Ace understood him right away though. "Uhhh..Gramps. It's not what it looks like." His eyes quickly dart towards our hands that were still interlocked together.

I still don't get it. We're holding hands, so what?

"We both know that you don't do the whole 'let's hold hands' thing, Ace. I haven't even seen you hold hands with Luffy before. You don't hold anybody's hand. Care to explain?"

Oh. That clears things up a bit. We both quickly pull our hands apart, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

"There's nothing to explain. There was just a little slip up, alright?" Ace sounded confident with his answer but I thought I could hear just a hint of doubt.

Well, screw our plan to hell. Garp's seen us now and we're the center of attention. Everybody has stopped fighting and are watching us, curious about what will happen next.

"Bwahaha! Girlie! Are you one of the pirates? I don't see you bearing the Whitebeard mark anywhere."

Oh crap. Now I have to make a decision. There's no getting out of this one.

"She's a guest aboard our ship, yoi." Marco stepped in. He could probably see my discomfort. We had talked earlier in the day. He knows I haven't decided yet.

Garp was looking at me skeptically. Everyone was. Make a choice my brain told me. The tension in the air was so thick that you could slice through it like cheese.

"So you're not a pirate?" Garp questions.

I'm not sure anymore. But I had to make a choice and I'm glad this is the one I choose. Maybe it was a heat of the moment type of thing - everything I was worried about just disappeared. Insignificant.

I threw Garp a lopsided grin.

"Sorry, but it looks like we'll be enemies from now on!"

* * *

**A/N: How'd you people like it? Let me know! Reviews make me happy but so do cookies... I accept both!**

**Guest: You are correct! Teach was on the crew before he murdered Thatch. He definitely will be a part of this story, I just haven't introduced him yet. **

**Ichigo1508: Glad you liked it! To be completely honest, I'm not much of a pranker so I wasn't sure if it was that great of a prank. I thought it was a little mainstream but I couldn't come up with anything else. But I deemed it okay because I think pranks don't have to be complex to be effective.**

**Angel: Ahhh... Okay! Here you go!**


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